Difficult Decisions
by MoonlyteWriter
Summary: While Anko tries to get away from her old sensei, who has been showing up a lot lately, a moment of weakness causes Anko to kiss him. When Tsunade finds out, poor Anko must find a way to avoid both her and Orochimaru. What will she do? AnkoOro
1. We Meet Again

Chapter One—We Meet Again

The full moon shone bright in the sky, spreading its light like a blanket over the sleeping village of Konohagakure. A light summer breeze swept through the deserted and dark streets, carrying with it the sweet scent of far away places. The stars shined and gleamed against the black and cloudless sky. All was peaceful. All except…

Anko tossed and turned in her sleep. Her head pounded, as did her heart, and her Cursed Seal of Heaven was reacting to something while she slept. She always had nightmares about _him, _but tonight didn't seem like it was much of a nightmare. Sweat trickled down her neck and forehead and her hands grasped the sheets of her bed hard, some of them ripping from the force.

Eyes…Golden eyes…They followed her everywhere; lingered behind the curtains of her every thought; stalked her in the night; watched her sleep…

Fangs…Sharp fangs…They grinned at her failures; smirked at her mischievous antics; sunk into her flesh and caused her pain…

Blood…So much blood…The blood of her family; of her friends; of her enemies; spilling across the floor and ground, taking with it a life that once was…

A laugh…A malicious laugh…Laughing at her for being so pathetic and weak; for not being satisfactory; for being…useless…

Anko's eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in her bed, still hearing his laugh ringing in her ears after all these years. She could see it all in her mind's eye. His haughty smirk, his ivory skin, his evil eyes, his demonic fangs, and the way he took pleasure in her pain. It was all there, for her to see, for it to haunt her…

She looked around her dark bedroom, searching for any hopeful sign that she was only dreaming again. This felt so much like one of her dreams. Her mark throbbed sharply; her heart raced erratically, her stomach muscles clenched. This had to be a dream. He couldn't be here…

She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood on jelly like legs. She walked to her small bathroom and absently wiped the sweat from her face and neck with a delightfully cool washrag. It did little help though. If he was coming for her, he would come, and she would sweat some more.

Anko left the bathroom and, not wanting to go back to bed, slipped on her shoes and left her apartment in her sleepwear—a big baggy black shirt and a short pair of black boxers.

The street outside was deserted and cool, blissful. The moonlight illuminated the unpaved street and the locked up shops lining the sides. Though, it made the shadows more dark and eerie than ever. And yet, she decided to stick to the shadows when she made her way down the ghostly street.

She didn't exactly know where she was going, but her feet were carrying her somewhere, and she didn't care. Her hand clutched her mark tightly against the throbbing pain that slightly increased with every step, but she couldn't stop walking.

After a few minutes, she turned into an alleyway in the less-used part of the village. There was a single door there, and it was boarded up tight. Her feet carried her to the door and she stared curiously at it. Her mark throbbed once, hard, and made her wince. This place had something to do with him…

She tugged at the boards with her free hand, the rotting wood cracking and splitting under her strength, until finally the bigger piece came off and gave her enough room to slip through.

She looked around the pitch black room. The only light was the moonlight that had come in through the hole with her. The shadows in this room were so intense that she thought for a moment that the room was painted black.

Anko made a few quick hand signs and soon held a small but bright glowing sphere in her palm, its warm light spreading through the dead shadows.

Shelves lined the two walls on either side of her, broken jars and vials scattered throughout the small crevices. A large desk in the center of the wall facing her had blood stained on the surface, and it was covered in debris. Papers lay all over the floor from what looked like a big gust of wind—or a giant surge of power…

Anko picked up a paper at her feet and examined it. It was blank. Upon closer examination, she discovered that all the papers were blank. Strange… She walked along the shelves, looking at the remnants of what used to be the contents of the shattered jars and vials. Some held old dirt, some had things that were all decayed or shriveled up, so she couldn't tell what they were.

She sighed a deep breath. Why did she come here? This obviously had something to do with him because her mark continued to stab her neck painfully, but she didn't know what…

A dark chuckle emitted from outside the door where she had come in.

Anko whirled around, recognizing that arrogant laugh, but saw nothing but the hole in the door. He was there…outside. She squeezed back through the hole and looked around, searching the rooftops and reaching out with her senses, trying to detect his unique chakra. She couldn't find it.

But he was there. She knew he was. She wasn't imagining things again. This wasn't one of her dreams. This was real, and he was here for some reason. And she was going to find him.

She ran out of the alleyway and stood in the dead center of the deserted street. Her mark was still painfully throbbing, and her hand clutched it even tighter, her fingernails drawing blood. Some of that blood was still on her fingers, and she figured out a way to find him.

She took her bloody hand off her neck, leaving her mark to throb, and then she called forth a Shadow Snake from her wrist. The snake willingly offered some venom to milk onto her hand, and then it retreated back into her wrist. Now, the blood and venom were coagulating together. She had no time to waste.

Anko raised her bloody hand to her mouth, murmured something against it, and then raised it up to the moon, letting it wash in the moonlight. She stood there like that for what seemed like forever to her ever-impatient growing nerves, but when she was satisfied, she lowered her hand and licked the blood and venom off her hand, not leaving a single drop behind.

There.

Almost immediately, she felt his masked chakra. It was carefully hidden, and that's why she couldn't sense it before, but now she knew exactly where he was. The Forest of Death.

Anko didn't waste any time in jumping away and across the rooftops toward her favourite place, which was probably now crawling with snakes, judging by the pattern his chakra was flowing in. She could tell that he was using some kind of jutsu…

But…what if she didn't want to see him again? If she entered that forest, would she come out alive? Was she stupid enough to walk right into the snake pit and be at the mercy of him?

No. She wasn't weak anymore. She was strong. She wouldn't let herself be overcome by her former sensei. After all, she knew what he was like. She had spent her entire agonizing childhood in his care. Even though the mark remained on her and still caused her pain, he didn't control her anymore. She was free, whether he liked it or not.

As she neared the Forest of Death, her mark began to get more and more painful, and by the time she was standing outside the fence that surrounded the forest, the mark was a dagger lodged in her neck. It was all she could do to even keep walking. But nonetheless, she didn't hesitate before she jumped the fence and ran towards where she still had a lock on his chakra.

Anko did notice that there were far more snakes in the forest than usual, and most of them were strangers. She had made friends with the snakes that lived there, and she could easily tell the difference between her snakes and…someone else's.

She stopped on a large tree branch, trying desperately not to make a sound of pain from the mark on her shoulder, 'cause God knows that he would be there to hear it. She found one of her snakes on a low hanging tree branch and held up her arm, letting it slither onto her.

"Where is he, little friend?" she asked it, trying to keep the pain out of her voice. The spot that she had locked onto had vanished, and now it was like trying to find something when you're blind.

The snake flicked its tongue out a few times and then hissed low and gently. Its head turned so that it looked like it was pointing towards the center of the forest.

"Thank you, little friend. Would you care to come with me?"

Anko leapt off the branch with the snake curled comfortably around her arm and neck. It seemed content, and Anko smiled.

A few minutes later, the girl landed on an immensely big branch where she was sure that he had been at one point or another. She sank to her knees and leaned back against the massive tree trunk. She threw her head back gently against the bark and fought so hard not to make a sound. She would not make a sound. She was stronger than that.

The snake raised its head off her shoulder and hissed defensively at the shadows at the end of the branch in warning. It was protecting its friend. Anko would have smiled had she not froze.

That dark chuckle came again. "Well, you sure know how to find me when you need to," said the seductive voice that sent a knife through the girl's ribcage.

That's when he stepped out of the shadows. His ivory skin glowed in the rare streams of moonlight. His golden and narrowed eyes held a malicious glee in seeing her in pain. His long black hair flowed carelessly down his back. His sadistic grin revealed the two pointed fangs that had caused Anko so much pain. He wore a black, long-sleeved turtleneck and matching black slacks. His swagger as he walked to her made him look positively…beautiful.

"Orochi…maru…" Anko choked out. Her breathing was becoming labored and it hurt to speak.

"Yes," he cooed. "Here I am. And I'm wondering why you came to look for me. You even made sure to use that risky jutsu I taught you."

She growled and slowly lifted her head from the bark. "I came…to find you…you bastard… You're a criminal… I've come to arrest you…" God, it hurt to speak.

"Arrest me? You can barely move let alone defeat me _and _drag me all the way to the ANBU prison," he pointed out arrogantly. "And so, that must not be the real reason you came here. I know you're smart enough to have figured out that you couldn't arrest me when I have to upper hand. So what was your real reason?"

Anko clenched her jaw shut tight. Damn him… He always figured everything out before anyone else had a chance of misleading him. She lowered her gaze to the bark of the tree branch just before his feet. "I…actually don't know why I came here…" she admitted, somewhat regretting ever letting her feet carry her away from the safety of her apartment. Though, her apartment might not have stayed safe for long.

"I see. Well, since you are here, and you look so beautiful when you're in pain, I think I'll have some…fun," Orochimaru sneered, his eyes narrowing in sadistic satisfaction.

The girl swallowed the lump in her throat. _Stupid, stupid, stupid… _she muttered in her head. _How could I be so stupid? I should have never come here…_

Orochimaru took a few steps toward her, and the snake on Anko's shoulders hissed loudly at him. He raised an eyebrow. "A friend of yours?"

Anko glared at him and then nodded. "Yes, and you will leave him alone." The snake slithered up to rest the front of its body on Anko's head and it glared at the man as well. Its tail wrapped protectively, yet gently, around her neck, the tip covering her heated and throbbing mark.

The man stared at the two on the branch before him, and then he chuckled. "You haven't changed one bit, Anko." He composed his face and the malicious smirk was gracing his lips once again. "That's one reason I'm going to enjoy this immensely…"

Anko swallowed again and looked up at the snake on her head. She reached up her hand and held it before the snake, which slithered onto it willingly. It coiled around her wrist and turned its head to face hers, a questioning look in its small and slit eyes. "You should go, little one," Anko said in a gentle yet pained voice. "I don't want you to get hurt…"

The snake stared at her for a moment, blinked once, and then lowered its head as if to say reluctantly, "Alright."

The girl stretched her arm out weakly to a branch at the right of her and let the snake slither onto it. It turned its head to look back at her somewhat sympathetically.

"Thanks for your help, my friend. Now go." Anko smiled at it and then turned her head back to face Orochimaru with a somber look on her features.

The little snake slithered away.

"Aw, how sweet of you to consider the little guy's safety," Orochimaru said sarcastically, waving one of his hands lazily in the air. His eyes narrowed again and he eyed the girl before him.

"Shut up, Orochimaru," she snapped weakly, all her strength almost completely drained because of the mark. She readied herself for the pain that she was sure was coming.

"Don't bark orders at me, my apprentice," he sneered. "You are the prey here. You have no room to tell the predator what to do." He stepped toward her again, now only about two yards from where she was sitting in a slouched position.

"You're no predator, sensei," she said, milking the title. "You're just an arrogant bully."

His eyes narrowed even more, but this time in annoyance. "Watch your tongue, girl," he hissed. His tone was poisonous. He was now about a yard from her. "Or I might just cut it out."

Anko glared at him, but shut her mouth, knowing that he was serious. Her eyes held hatred in large quantities. And all that hatred was aimed directly at him. She hated him with every fiber of her being. He left her for dead on a beach somewhere, never sparing her a second thought, and now he comes back just to torment her? How low can he stoop?

"Now, my dear Anko, what shall I do with you?" he asked, crouching before her and looking into her eyes, sadistic glee hanging in their depths. He reached out and grasped her chin in his slender and cold fingers. He turned her head so he could examine the curse mark. "It seems I'm already torturing you, so there's not a whole lot left to do…" he brought his eyes back to hers, "…except cause you even more pain…in more ways than one." He leaned his head in closer. "How about pain of the heart?"

Anko's eyes widened and she tried to pull away from him with the little strength she had left, but couldn't. He had a firm grip on her chin, and her head was already back against the tree trunk, so there wasn't much room to move.

"What's the matter? Scared?" the snake lord whispered, his breath on her face. He was about an inch from her now, so close that he was leaning against her knees. His hand braced against the tree to the right of her head, and his other was still holding her chin. He leaned in closer. "Or excited?"

The girl closed her eyes tightly so she wouldn't see him anymore. She couldn't look him in the eyes; she never could, never had. His eyes were the one thing in the world that would make her heart ache and her gut clench. So she never looked at them, and she damn near wasn't going to start now.

Without very much warning, he pressed his lips to hers so hard that her head was shoved back against the tree trunk even more. Her eyes flew open and she tried to pull away, but found that all her strength was completely gone. She was nothing but a living rag doll. Her eyes filled with tears and she closed them again, her heart crying at the realization that she could die. Her throat was closing from fear and sadness and she could still feel his lips on hers.

His teeth bit into her bottom lip and drew some blood. Then he ran his tongue along her lip, collecting the blood and pulled away to lick his lips. He stared at her, sadistically amused, and smirked. "You taste better than before, Anko," he purred.

Anko's mark was still throbbing painfully, and her lip was sore from the slight tear in the thin tissue, but she still did not whimper. She did not make a sound. That's what he wanted; nothing more than to hear her pain and smell her broken defeat. She bit her bleeding lip in order to send more pain through her fog of weakness. She never thought in her life she would ever need more pain than he was delivering.

Orochimaru noticed her inflicting her self pain, and he smirked wider. "You never know when to quit taunting me, dear Anko," he said arrogantly. "If more pain is what you desire, I would most happily oblige." He leaned his head down again and tilted her head to the side so he had a clear shot at her throat. He cradled the side of her head in his hand and pressed his lips to the left side of her neck. His teeth soon followed, barely scraping the surface, but when they did and he heard Anko's sharp intake of breath, he smirked to himself again and plunged his pointed fangs deep into the flesh and muscles of her throat.

_Screw it! _Anko thought as she gave up her composure and cried out painfully at the new wounds in her neck. She had swallowed her full out agonizing scream and had reduced it to a pained little whine, but that was enough.

The snake smirked wider against her neck and buried his fangs even deeper in her flesh and tissue, tearing a vein or two, and winning himself another pained cry from her. It sang as sweet music in his ears.

After a few unbearable minutes, he slowly removed his fangs, taking his time in order to make it more painful for her, dragging his teeth along the entrance wound when they emerged.

Anko's body was tense to the point where her muscles were one big knot, and she had her eyes shut tightly and tears ran slowly down her cheeks, though she made no sobbing noise. No noise at all.

Orochimaru licked his lips and teeth clean of her blood and then ran his hand across one of her flushed and tear-streaked cheeks. "I've missed you, my apprentice," he breathed seductively. Slowly, he stood and stared down at her with an I'm-better-than-you look on his face. "We'll see each other again soon, my dear." With that, he vanished from the tree branch.

The girl whimpered to herself freely now that he was gone, the pain coming from her neck unbearable. Her blood ran in large amounts down her shoulder and arm and chest and back, her limp body completely and totally without an ounce of strength. She sobbed and more tears streamed down her tingling cheeks. The last thing she remembered before falling into unconsciousness was the warm feeling that remained on her lips from where he had kissed her…


	2. A Kiss for the Heart

Chapter Two— A Kiss for the Heart

"Anko? Wake up, honey," a gentle voice said from above the girl.

Anko slipped back into the world of the awake slowly, seeing a bright glow from behind her closed eyelids. She felt herself in a warm bed. White. She could feel white. And when she opened her eyes, she immediately closed them again. Too much white…

"Tsunade…It's too bright," she grunted, covering her eyes with her arm.

The blonde chuckled. "Sorry. I forget that you're a vampire," she said jokingly as the lights dimmed enough so that it was black behind her eyelids again; the colour it should be.

"No joking now, Tsu. My head hurts," Anko replied groggily, her head pounding. She remembered what had happened almost instantly and sat straight up in the hospital bed, earning a major head rush. Ignoring it, her hand flew to the bandages wrapped around her neck.

"Yeah, I bandaged you up," Tsunade said, reading the questioning look in her friends eyes. "You always seem to find trouble, don't you?"

"I don't find trouble," Anko retorted, sinking back to the pillow. "Trouble finds me."

The blonde laughed. "No, my friend, you're drawn to trouble. I know you. When you sense trouble, you think, 'Oh, cool.' And then run off to get yourself killed." She smiled kindly and put a hand on the blanket that covered the girl's leg. "Sweetie, I can't keep rescuing you. I'm getting tired, and I'm busier now than I have been in a while due to the recent murders in Sunagakure. They seem to think we're at fault." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's your own fault for flaunting the fact that we have the most well-trained ANBU and assassins the world has ever known, which probably isn't true, by the way." Anko rolled her eyes as well.

"You know, you're insulting yourself when you say that," Tsunade pointed out.

"I know…" the girl replied, staring blankly at the ceiling. She seemed out of it right now. But who could blame her?

The Hokage sighed. She leaned her elbows on the edge of the hospital bed and rested her chin on her fists. "So tell me. What exactly happened out there? When I found you, you had a snake on your lap and it hissed at my ANBU when they tried to get near you. Plus the large amount of blood you had lost from those wounds on your neck…Mind explaining?"

Anko continued to stare at the ceiling. _My little snake came back to protect me? I told him to go away… _She outwardly smiled to herself. _So then, how long was I out there? It couldn't have been that long. It's still night… And where is he? Run away again like a coward? _She remembered him biting her neck, him cradling her head in his soft and cold hand, the feel of his lips against hers… She shook her head vigorously, earning a bigger headache.

"Well?" asked the impatient Tsunade.

"How did you find me?" Anko asked instead of explaining just yet.

"It wasn't easy. I had a feeling that something would go wrong tonight, since it seems that every full moon you do something stupid that nearly gets you killed. I sent ANBU to your apartment, and when they returned and said that you weren't there, I sent dispatches all over the sleeping village. You're lucky I care about you as much as I do, my stupid little friend," she said, poking Anko's thigh. "So, mind telling me what happened now?"

The girl sighed. "I was running through the forest because I couldn't sleep, stumbled on a very angry snake which snuck up on me and attacked me, and then passed out after it bit me. The snake you found on my lap was an old friend of mine that obviously was worried about me."

Tsunade nodded slowly. "That still doesn't answer the question; how the hell did that snake bite you in such an ironic spot? The puncture holes are directly above your mark, just high enough so that it's not touching it. Wanna explain that?"

Anko shrugged. "I guess it was just a coincidence…" she said, pretending to be stupid. It was a good thing that she had thought this out already between unconsciousness and waking up.

The blonde sighed and stood up from her chair beside the bed. "Well, you're going to stay the night here in the hospital. The earliest I can let you go is tomorrow morning." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, dear. I know how much you hate hospitals. But that doesn't seem to stop you from always ending up in one." She shook her head before leaving, the door making barely a sound as the latches connected.

Anko sighed and raised a hand to her neck. She felt the bandages above where the holes were—or used to be. It didn't feel like there was anything there now. It didn't even feel bruised. Did it really heal that quickly? She ruled out this being a dream because she was in a hospital, which pretty much meant that she had gotten hurt. And the pain. That pain could not have been created by her mind. And his eyes, his smirk…his lips… She shook her head again and closed her eyes.

At least she got to have a pleasant night's sleep; safe in the ANBU guarded medical facility. Though, if he really wanted to get to her, he wouldn't even waste a sweat on those ANBU. But he wouldn't want to get to her that badly. He was probably already back in Otagakure with his followers, planning his next attack on a village.

A strange kind of sadness filled her heart as she imagined that, and she pushed it away as she fell into a dreamless sleep. Her heart beat a little slower.

The next morning, as promised, Anko was released from the hospital, but nor without receiving a mission from the Hokage, of course. Not even out the hospital door yet and she was already back to work…This sucked.

The mission was a simple delivery. 'Get this package to Amegakure and return in one piece. No more snake fights.' Tsunade's words echoed in her head as she made her way out of the village and leapt away, the small package tucked safely under her arm.

She hadn't taken off the bandages yet because she didn't want anyone to wonder why her wounds were gone already. Ordinary snake bites didn't heal that quickly.

By the time she had delivered the package to Amegakure, it was already sundown, and the forest stretched before her was dark and welcoming. Though she wouldn't get back until tomorrow morning as it was, she took her time returning. She loved the night better than the day. Things were more peaceful, and the dark hid things about yourself that you could see easily during the day. The night was Anko's safety blanket.

About half way back to the village, her mark began to throb again. "Damn it," she said aloud, a hand flying to her bandaged neck and clutching fiercely at the fabric. She had stopped on a tree branch and braced herself against the trunk. Well, it was only a light throb, so that meant that he couldn't be that close, right?

Wrong.

An arm reached out from behind her and wrapped around her waist, pulling her off the branch. She landed on her back with a thud and an "oof" on the dewy grass at the base of the trunk and closed her eyes from impact. The man that had grabbed her was sitting on top of her, holding her wrists to the ground on either side of her head.

Anko opened one eye somewhat to see who it was, though she obviously knew. "What do you…want this time…snake?" she choked out, his weight on her stomach making it hard to keep breath in her lungs.

"I just thought I'd say hello," he sneered, looking down at her condescendingly.

"Liar…" she spat. "You followed me here, didn't you? It's way out of the way to either Konohagakure or Otagakure."

He chuckled and leaned his head down close to hers. "Maybe I did. So what? There's nothing you can do about it." His voice was too seductive.

"I can do more about it this time than I could last time," she said defensively. "I have more strength this time." Which brought another question to mind. "And why is the mark barely reacting to you?"

"Neither are important," he replied coldly. "It doesn't matter if you have more strength this time. You still can't fight me." He pulled her wrists high above her head and collected them both in one pale hand, leaving the other one free. He used it to grab hold of her chin and forced her face up so that it was looking directly into his eyes.

She hadn't had the time or sense to close her eyes before it was too late. Her eyes locked with his, and she couldn't pull away. The golden pools mesmerized her; the malicious black slit that ran down the center of the gold entranced her. They seemed to look directly into her soul and they held it there. Before she knew it, she couldn't move at all. Her arms and legs felt useless. So this was his plan all along. It didn't matter that she was back in health and strong again. She was stupid enough to look into his forbidden eyes.

As soon as Orochimaru was sure that he had her paralyzed, he released her wrists, which stayed in the same place unmoving. His attention shifted to the bandages wrapping around her neck. "Did they think these would accomplish anything?" he asked, more to himself than to Anko. He rolled his eyes and tore the bandages from her neck, revealing the place where his bite marks had been before. There was no trace of them now.

He smirked to himself and glanced up at Anko's distant and blank eyes. She was out of it. Perfect… He lowered his head to her neck again, bracing himself against her chest using his arms. With no hesitation, he sank his fangs into her neck again, deeper and more prominent this time, earning an absent yet startled gasp for air from the girl's mouth.

It hurt, but the foremost pain was dulled so that it mainly just felt like she had a cramp in her neck instead of two fangs. She still couldn't get her body to move.

Several minutes passed before the snake slowly pulled his fangs out of her skin and licked his lips. "Sweeter every time," he breathed. He stared down at the motionless girl for a moment, and then slowly lowered his head again. This time, he pressed his ear to her chest right above her heart. He listened patiently to her heartbeat.

_Thump…_pause…_thump…_pause…_thump…_pause…

It was beating too slowly for it to be called normal. Orochimaru raised his head and sighed. He thought of a reason for it to be like that, and then decided to try and figure out a way that would make his favourite plaything well again. He could only think of one thing.

He looked back into her distant eyes, cursed himself for doing this, and then lowered his head to hers. His lips brushed against hers lightly, and he felt her dull heartbeat pick up slightly beneath his hand, which was pressed to her chest. He kept his lips lightly touching against hers for a while until her heartbeat was near normal again, and then he was about to lift his head when she surprised him.

Anko closed her eyes and leaned her head up in order to make the kiss more of a kiss. Her once motionless arms came down and encircled his neck, holding him there and trying not to let him go.

Gently, he unhooked her arms from around his neck and pulled back from the kiss, his eyes staring down at her, disbelieving and puzzled, one eyebrow raised.

The girl blushed and looked down, which was pretty much looking at his chest. "S-sorry…" she muttered in a small voice. Her arms were tucked against her chest and her fists covered her mouth in a cutely embarrassed motion. "I…um…" She paused, feeling even more embarrassed at how silent and motionless he was being. "Can…can you kiss me…again?" she asked in a whisper, her cheeks growing more red.

Orochimaru continued to stare at her blankly, not saying a word or even giving some hint that he had heard her.

Seeing his apparent hesitation, Anko closed her eyes and cursed herself for being such a fool to have even asked him that. _Stupid…What was I thinking, asking him that? I'm such an idiot… I mean, of course he'd think I'm insane. I hate him more than anything, and here I go asking him to kiss me? I'm such a loser…_

Since Anko was busy mentally beating herself, she didn't notice Orochimaru slowly lowering his head to hers again. His arms reached up and took hold of her wrists, pulling them away from her mouth and holding them to the ground next to her head again. He pressed his lips against hers again, only harder this time, meaning it as a kiss and not just a means of torture.

The girl came back to earth with a start as she felt his lips again, and then she quickly sank into the kiss, closing her eyes and focusing on how good his lips felt against hers.

Making the kiss deeper, the snake pressed his mouth harder on hers, his tongue running along her bottom lip and then slipping into her mouth. He ran it along the inside of her lips and cheeks, savouring her taste. His lips moved against hers skillfully and passionately, making the kiss last as long as he could.

When he finally had to pull away, his eyes were gentle as he watched Anko open hers, keeping her eyelids drooped. Her lips were still parted from where his tongue had slipped out and his saliva still clung to her lips. Orochimaru licked his own lips once, slowly, and then he smirked at her. "I have to go." And he vanished from her, leaving her lay in the wet grass in the same position she had been in, her breathing heavy, her heart pounding…


	3. Embarrassment

Chapter Three— Embarrassment

Orochimaru reappeared in his room at his current lair. He ran a cold hand through his hair and sighed. That had been unexpected… He wondered why she had asked him to do such a thing. Maybe it was a side effect of looking into his eyes? A lingering affect of what he was capable of? Maybe a curiosity that had gotten the better of her in her weak state? He didn't know, and now he had a headache.

As if sensing that he didn't want company, a small knock sounded on his door. "My lord? Have you returned from your errand?" asked a voice from outside.

The snake groaned softly to himself. "I have, Kabuto. Enter."

The door swung open and a silver-haired man with round glasses stepped in and bowed to his lord. "My lord, how did your errand go?" he asked, hinting that he wanted to know where his master had gone.

"None of your concern, Kabuto," Orochimaru sighed, rolling his eyes at his follower. "Is there something that you needed? I need some sleep."

Kabuto stood upright and adjusted his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, actually, my lord, there is. You see, Kimimaro and Tayuya are gambling again…"

"And?" the irritated Sannin pressed. "That's not so abnormal."

"Yes, my lord, but you see, they're gambling on whether or not Sakon will kiss Sasuke in the next few minutes. Both men are…drunk off their rocker…" the medic explained.

Orochimaru heard himself sigh heavily. "I see no problem in that. You know how Sakon gets when he's drunk. In fact, tell them that I'll wager a box of sake on Sakon kissing Sasuke. Now leave." He had to say something to get the medic out of his room, and that's the only thing his pounding head could come up with at the moment.

After a disbelieving stare, Kabuto bowed. "Yes, my lord." And he went out the door, closing it behind him.

The snake yet again sighed. He walked over to the door and locked it tight. Then he went over to his welcoming bed and lay down ungracefully. He covered his head with a pillow and cursed under his breath.

His life never seemed to be normal.

It was noon by the time Anko arrived back at Konohagakure. She had taken her time coming home so that the bite marks would have time to heal, and she had forgotten all about the fact that when she had left the day before, she had been wearing the bandages, and now she wasn't.

"Uh…yeah, Amegakure had given me some…special salve to put on them as thanks. It must've worked really quickly," Anko lied to Tsunade, who was appraising the girl's neck curiously. She probed the once punctured flesh with her fingertips, and when the girl made no indication of pain or discomfort, she backed off.

"Alright," she sighed. "I guess I don't care how they went away; just that they did and you're okay." She raised her eyebrow and smirked. "And I know you're lying to me. You shouldn't do that, deary."

Anko hung her head. "Sorry, Tsu. Can I go now? I need a bath…" she said, sniffing her forearm and making a face.

The blonde laughed. "Yes, by all means, go wash. I'm just so proud to see that you've set aside your dislike of bathing for the good of those around you. I would hug you if you didn't smell so bad. I mean, gosh. It's like a combination of everything from bad B.O. to an old lady's horrible cooking."

Anko rolled her eyes. "Come on Tsunade. Don't belittle yourself so. You're cooking doesn't taste that bad." Before she could hear the outraged comment, the girl vanished with a wave and a smirk.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest with a "humph". But soon she forgot about the elderly comment as she smelled something disgustingly familiar where Anko had vanished.

It was the scent of a certain…snake…

Back at Anko's apartment, she shed her ANBU attire and climbed into a delightfully hot bath. It felt so good against her sweat-dried and mud-caked skin. It soothed the muscles that had been clenched incredibly tight in her back, legs, arms, and…neck…

She reached up with one warm and wet hand and cupped the side of her neck, her eyes becoming distant. She felt around where he had bitten her and retraced where his lips had been. She could almost feel them still there. Then her hand moved to gently touch her fingers against her lips and she remembered what his lips felt like against hers. Inside her mouth, she traced the path that his tongue had taken along her inner lips and cheeks and remembered how strange he had tasted to her…

Anko squeaked in embarrassment and sank lower into the water, the surface of the liquid at the bridge of her nose. She didn't want to be thinking of that! Why was she even thinking about that?! He was so mean, cruel, uncaring, sadistic, malicious, poisonous, deadly, sexy…

_Woah! Where did that one come from_?! That hadn't popped up before, and now that it had she couldn't stop considering how true it was. _No, no, no!! Stop thinking!! Or better yet, think about something that didn't make you want to kill yourself!_

Anko shook her head and thought about all the Genin and their first and last names, their dreams for the future—which they loved to share with her, by the way; they seemed to think she liked kids—, and everything they had ever told her.

The hour or so that she was pruning in the bathtub seemed to trudge along painfully slow…

When she finally got out, she dried off quickly, threw on her big black t-shirt and black and red boxers, and walked into her bedroom, just to be scared half to death by a figure standing in the corner, who seemed to think it was enormously funny when she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Good Lord, Anko! If you keep jumping around like that I'll have to start calling you a frog," the man said gleefully, his one visible blue eye twinkling in amusement.

"You scared the hell outta me, Deidara! Ever heard of knocking?" Anko snapped, holding a hand over her heart. She had one hand braced against the wall so she didn't fall over.

"I did, but you were in the bath and couldn't hear me, so I just…came in." He grinned playfully at her and plopped himself down on her bed. "You were muttering something about a kid named Konohamaru?"

Anko shook her head. "Never mind about that," she said, her heart beating mostly regularly again. It never beat normally. "What do you want?" She walked over and sat on the bed next to him, running her fingers through her damp hair, getting the knots out.

"I just came for a visit, my old friend," he said innocently. He brotherly draped an arm over her shoulders.

"First, I'm not old, thank you. And second, last time you came to 'visit', you were here on a dare and tried to blow my apartment up with one of those little clay birds of yours." She scowled at him.

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. "What can I say? Art's a bang."

Anko smacked him over the head with her fist. "You just look for excuses to use your little saying, don't you?" she accused, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed at him.

"Come on. Don't be like that," he said, having released her shoulders and was now rubbing his new lump. "I'm used to using it around the ladies. You're a lady, I presume." His eyes wandered to her chest.

She grabbed his chin and forced his gaze back to her eyes. "Hey, pervert, my breasts are not for ignorant little pinheads to look at, thank you very much." She released his chin with a swift jerk and went back to crossing her arms over her chest, securely covering her breasts.

"What? It's not like they're anything special. I've seen better looking things on old lady whores…" That earned him another clonk on the head and another lump.

"And I'm sure you've seen enough old whores in your day, you womanizing mutt," Anko snapped, shaking her fist at him. "You're as bad as Itachi, I swear."

"I resent that," said a voice from her doorway. Itachi stood leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, watching them with amused disapproval. "God, you'd swear you two were brother and sister the way you go back and forth like that with the insults."

"Great…" the girl groaned. She knotted her hand in Deidara's hair and forced his sulking head up to look into her eyes again. "You brought weasel along?" she accused with poisonous annoyance.

"I had to, dear," he replied, wincing at the hair pull. "Now, if you would please release the hair…"

She made a disgusted noise and released his blonde locks. Her eyes fell back on Itachi. "So then what are you two doing here, Itchy, since he won't tell me."

He shrugged. "We were in the neighborhood and decided to see how you were doing. That one—" he nodded at Deidara, who was scratching his scalp vigorously "—wanted to sneak in, but I knocked, and when there was no answer, he found it as an opportunity to scare you."

Anko sighed. "You'd think growing up with you two, I'd get used to these shenanigans." She turned back to the blonde and bonked him on the head once more for fun.

Itachi shook his head. "I still haven't gotten used to them, and if I remember correctly, it was you and him that always liked to sneak out at night and rob something. What was it you called yourself? Something corny… Oh yeah. The Leaf Thieves."

The girl laughed. "Oh yeah. I remember that." She sighed, and shook her head. "Then blondy had to go and get caught."

"It was an accident!" Deidara insisted.

"An accident? Doing the Macarena in your underwear right in front of the entire ANBU squadron doesn't qualify as an 'accident'," Itachi said, emphasizing the last word.

Anko laughed and smacked Deidara's back. "Yeah. What were you thinking?" she asked him.

"I don't know. I…" The blonde trailed off as he stared at Anko intensely. He even leaned closer to get a good look at something on her face.

"Um…what are you doing?" she asked, trying to push him away, obviously uncomfortable.

"There's…something different about your face…" he said, his attention distant. "I think it's your…" He leaned in a little closer and squinted his eyes. They then widened and he leaned away. After a moment, an accusatory smirk pulled at his lips. "You kissed someone recently." It was stated bluntly and hung in the silent air for a few seconds.

"Seriously?" Itachi asked from the doorway, standing upright from his leaning position against the frame. "Our little Anko kissed someone? When? Who?"

Anko blushed madly and covered her mouth with her hand. "Um…What are you guys talking about? Of course I didn't kiss anybody! Why would I go and do something that stupid?!" _He kissed me…_

"I can see it on your lips, Anko," Deidara said mysteriously. "I'd say it was about twenty-four hours ago…"

Anko flushed. She stood abruptly and pointed to the door. "Well, you guys had your visit; I think it's time you went." She tapped her embarrassed foot on the floor.

Deidara stood as well and gave her a suspicious look. "Fine, you don't have to tell us who you kissed, just as long as you admit that you did in fact kiss someone." He crossed his arms over his chest. "We're not going anywhere until you man-up to that."

She felt her face grow hotter and she turned away, blushing wildly, the scene in the forest on her way back to the village still playing through her mind. "Okay, you caught me. I kissed someone. Now leave me alone."

The men exchanged glances, smirked at Anko's stiff back, and vanished.

Anko slumped to the floor in relief. That was too close… She had not wanted them to know about what she had done in the forest. She didn't even dare mention his name to anyone. And she planned to keep it that way. If someone found out…

She shook her head and climbed into her bed, hiding in a curled up ball deep under the covers. Maybe she would get some sleep tonight seeing as the snake wasn't here. But even though he wasn't going to be there in person tonight, he still filled the girl's dreams.


	4. Trouble

Chapter Four— Trouble

The early morning light streamed in Anko's bedroom window, the curtains somehow pulled apart. The girl groaned under her bed covers and shifted stiffly. She had remained in her same curled up position all night long and her limbs were stiff and ached. She slowly uncurled from her ball and slid a hand out from under the blanket.

Last night's dream was still fresh in her mind. Bright eyes that still seemed dark; fangs in her flesh; evil laughter in her ears; cold lips against hers; clothing slowly disappearing…

Anko shook her head vigorously and blinked in the stuffy darkness beneath her blankets._ No more thinking about that… _she told herself as she slid out from under the covers and closing her eyes tightly in the sunlight. She raised an arm to block the light from her eyes. "Who the hell opened my curtains?" she groaned to no one.

"I did."

Anko's eyes popped open and she lowered her arm, forgetting the blinding sun. She stared at the woman in her room. "What are you doing here, Tsunade?" Anko asked, a little shaken.

"I came to see how you were," the Hokage replied nonchalantly as she walked over and sat down on the bed. "What's up?"

The girl, hugging the blankets tighter around her pajama-ed body, gave the blonde a weird look. "Sleeping, you idiot," she replied groggily. "What's up with you? Did you need something?" She paused to scowl. "Is it important enough for you risking losing your head?"

Tsunade shrugged and then chuckled. "You really are grumpy when you wake up. I guess we're getting right down to the point then." The woman stared at Anko intensely for a moment, locking their eyes. "What were you doing hanging out with Orochimaru?"

Anko coughed on her own inhale. _Way to be blunt about it, Tsu._ "Excuse me?" she managed to choke out.

"You heard me. Now tell me everything. And I mean _everything._" Tsunade emphasized the last word with her eyebrows.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tsunade," Anko replied, crossing her arms across her chest.

The Hokage took on a more relaxed posture on the bed. "You know that he is a criminal, dear," she said in a motherly voice. "It's against the law to have anything to do with him. Please just tell me why you were with him." Her tone was soft and gentle; something that requires an answer to.

Anko uncrossed her arms and ran one hand through her messy hair. "But I didn't mean to be, Tsu," she said, ignoring the voice in her head that was telling her to shut up. "He keeps following me. Everywhere."

Tsunade's eyes hardened while still looking motherly. "What do you mean, following you?"

"Well, first he showed up one night in the Forest of Death, and then on the way back from Amegakure…" Anko's voice trailed off.

"And those snake bites? You didn't get into a fight with a snake, did you?" the Hokage accused, shaking her head.

The girl covered her mouth in shock that she had let that slip. Then she snickered. "Well, technically I did."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and then looked at her friend in sympathetic amusement. "Now is not a time for jokes," she chided. "Why is he following you?"

Anko looked at her wrinkled bed sheets and shook her head slightly. "I honestly don't know. He only ever bites me and then leaves…" Her mind almost immediately wandered to the night on the way back to her village from Amegakure; the way she had stupidly asked him to kiss her, the way he did, the way his lips felt… She shook her head vigorously.

"He bites you?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think he's injecting any venom when he bites me… At least, it doesn't feel like it…"

"Hmm…" The Hokage began to consider this in her head. "Is it painful?"

"As Hell," Anko groaned.

The blonde nodded. "I see…" She snapped her fingers a few seconds later and grabbed one of Anko's hands, holding it tightly. "I know! When do you think he's coming to visit you next?"

Anko looked a little bit scared by this sudden burst of energy, and so early in the morning. "How the Hell should I know? He's unpredictable as anything and you should know that better than anyone."

Tsunade nodded again. "I know, I know. But you do know that the next time he comes he's going to bite you, right?"

The girl shuddered. "Uh huh…"

"And you're going to ask him why he wants you while I hide in your closet."

"What?" Anko nearly squeaked. "Are you insane? He knows your chakra! You wouldn't be able to get within a three mile radius of him without him knowing, let alone in the same room!"

"I can hide my chakra," Tsunade said matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know you can, Tsu, but from him?"

"It would be risky, and it might not work, but it's worth a shot, and then I could see for myself why he's tormenting you." Then she put on a puppy face. "Will you do it? For me? Please, Anko dearest?"

Anko stared at the woman for a minute, and then rolled her eyes. "Fine," she surrendered. "I guess when the Hokage puts on a puppy face as lame as that, there's no choice."

"Cha! Thanks, Anko! Oh my, this is going to be so great. He won't know what hit him. Besides, I haven't seen him in so long, so it would be nice to see him again, even if he is behind bars…" Tsunade stopped her happy rant and glanced at the yawning girl. "I'll get out of your hair so you can go back to bed." She stood up.

"Wait, Tsu."

The blonde stopped in her march to the door. "Yes?" she asked, turning back around and smiling sweetly, expectantly.

"The curtains…" Anko sleepily pointed to her window with the sun blaring in.

The Hokage scowled and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains shut tightly. Then she walked back to the door. Half way out the door, she said, "Bye, you vampire." And she was gone down the hall.

"And proud of it!" Anko shouted back. Then she pulled the covers up over her head and went back to sleep, immensely annoyed.

Anko spent the rest of her boring work day rebuilding a bridge across a wide stream that had fallen down because of the fast currents. It was a long and boring job that required workers with skill, flexibility, and a horrible paycheck. Anko fit all those qualities.

"Shouldn't we be with the Hokage or something?" one of the other ANBU had asked Anko as he wiped the sweat and stream water from his brow.

She simply shrugged. "That's her call, not ours."

Anko was secretly glad to have the separation between her and Tsunade.

Now, Anko was in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, in her pajamas, reading a book, while Tsunade awkwardly hid in her closet. They had had a long conversation beforehand, and the girl had gotten quite uncomfortable, and, to get the blonde bimbo to shut up, she pushed her into the closet and told her not to come out. Surprisingly, she listened.

Anko was about to turn the page of her book when the room grew somewhat colder. To her knowledge, that only meant one thing. He was here.

As if summoned, a billow of smoke appeared beside the bed and the snake stood in the shadows of her room. "Good evening, Anko," he said, a bland expression on his face.

"Good evening, snake," Anko said back, trying to hide the fact that she had nearly been scared out of her skin behind a similar bland expression. "What do you want this time?"

"What do I always want?" he countered, a smirk working his blank lips.

_Lips…_

"You always want whatever you won't tell me," Anko answered, slowly closing her book and setting it down on her bedside table.

"Exactly," he said smugly, leaning against her bedroom wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

Anko rolled her eyes. She spared a nonchalant glance at the closet door. _Here I go, Tsu. I hope this works…for your sake. _ "I have a question for you, snaky."

"Well there's a shocker," Orochimaru sneered.

Ignoring the comment, Anko continued so as not to lose her cool. "Why do you keep coming to visit me?" she asked him. "Before, you had nothing to do with me. Now you've seen me for the past few nights."

He shrugged; a lazy movement of his shoulders. "I don't think I need to answer that." He stared at her for a moment. "Now I have a question for you, dear Anko."

She gave him a suspicious look and nodded slowly. "Yes?"

"Why did you ask me to kiss you in the forest?"

Anko visibly flinched. She spared a quick glance at the closet door, imagining exactly what the Hokage's reaction would be to that. It wasn't pretty. "Well, I was…just…curious, that's all."

"Curious?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Curious of what? What I kissed like or what it felt like to be kissed?"

_Keep saying it, why don't you? _ "I don't think I need to answer that." She made an effort to make her voice sound like his.

"And why not? Too embarrassed?" he asked. "Or is it because of your friend in the closet?"

Anko visibly flinched again. "Um…what friend?"

"Don't be stupid. She had always been horrible at masking her chakra. I sensed her the moment I came in the room." He turned to the closet. "You can stop pretending you're not there, no matter how much I want it to be true."

There was a moment of silence, and then a thud, and then a click, and then the door slowly swung open and revealed a red faced blonde with a bump on her head.

Anko covered her face with her hand. _This isn't happening. I don't know her._

"You're an ass, snake," Tsunade spat, walking haughtily and proudly out of the closet.

"So I'm constantly reminded of, thank you," Orochimaru replied. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Mind telling me what you were doing in there? Spying?"

The blonde put and hand over her heart and dramatically gasped. "Spying? Me? No, never! How could you ever say such a thing?" she said in an offended tone.

"Sure, Tsunade," the snake said, rolling his eyes. "And why were you spying on me?"

"Why should I tell you?" Tsunade asked, walking over and sitting down on the bed next to Anko. She wrapped an arm around the scared girl's shoulders. "We have our own reasons."

"We?" he asked, giving Anko an interesting look. "I see. Well, then, I should be taking my leave." Without another word, he was gone.

Anko closed her eyes and prepared for the onslaught that was sure to come from the Hokage of the village for finding out about her asking a criminal to kiss her. And she was surprised when the onslaught didn't come. She opened one of her eyes and warily looked at Tsunade.

"You…asked him to kiss you?" the blonde asked calmly. "Why?"

"Um…I actually don't know…" Anko replied, looking at the floor. "It just kind of…came out…"

Tsunade released the girl's shoulders and scooted away from her on the bed. "Asking a wanted criminal to kiss you doesn't just 'come out'. Why did you ask him to kiss you?"

Anko stared at the floor for a while before answering. "I just…I don't know. Something in my head took over and asked him for me. By the time I was myself again, he was already kissing me…" Her voice trailed.

The woman closed her eyes and pretended that that bit of information had no effect on her. "Was it worth betraying your village?"

Anko's head snapped up and she stared at the Hokage in disbelief. "No way! How could you ever think that?" she squeaked. "I love this village more than anything, and you know that. It was a stupid mistake."

Tsunade's eyes became gentle with sorrow. "But by doing this little mistake, you have betrayed your village. And on top of that, you lied to me." Her voice was sad and hurt.

"But, Tsu…" Anko started. "…I'm so sorry. You know that I would never hurt this village. Please, forgive me." She reached over and tugged on her friend's sleeve.

After an unbelievably long minute, Tsunade sighed heavily and looked deep into the girl's eyes. "Alright. I won't tell anybody about this, but only because I love you so much." She stood up, pulling free of Anko's grip. "One more mistake and I can't be so nice anymore. You're dealing with a criminal. Next time…I'll have to arrest you…" With a sympathetic and sad look, the blonde vanished from the bedroom.

Minutes passed as Anko sat in the silence that filled her now empty bedroom. Her jaw was dropped slightly and her heart was beating abnormally slow. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes and her body began to tense.

_Jail? _she thought in disbelief. The word made a tear roll down her cheek; made her heart sink; made her sick. She didn't like the thought of going to jail, or how much that would hurt Tsunade.

Her body finally gave out and she fell back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Tears were rolling silently down her cheeks now in large amounts.

_Jail…_

Anko rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, crying like a child who had just lost a parent. Her audible sobs were muffled by the pillow, and it absorbed her tear flow, but anyone who saw her then would see how hard she was crying.

She spent the rest of the night weeping and muttering apologies to Tsunade, who walked back to her tower, having seen enough through Anko's window.


	5. Painful Predicament

Chapter Five— Painful Predicament

The next day, Anko barely spoke. She barely showed any emotion at all. Paranoia set in. She completed her ANBU work with no questions, no complaints, no arguments. Her fellow ANBU gave her weird looks, and some asked her what was wrong, but she only shook her head and continued to not speak.

She slowly walked back to her apartment, staring blankly at the street, not paying attention to where she was going.

"Woah there, Anko," said a man who had to jump out of the way to avoid being run into.

Anko lifted her head and stared blankly at Kakashi. "Oh, sorry, Kakashi." She lowered her head again and continued walking.

"Hey, wait up, girly." Kakashi ran up beside her and kept pace. "What's with the sad face?"

"I'm not sad," she replied in a monotone voice. She didn't look up from the ground.

"Yes you are. Usually you use a little thing called emotion." He turned in front of her, blocking her path. "What's wrong?"

Anko stopped abruptly. "Nothing's wrong, Kakashi. Now leave me alone." She tried to sidestep him, but he just moved with her.

"I'm not going anywhere until you cheer up. I don't like depressed Anko," Kakashi said, putting his hands on his hips. "Crack a smile or something."

She looked up at him and stared at him for a moment. Then she flashed him a sarcastic smile and ran around him and down the street.

Kakashi stood there for a minute, staring after her. Then he shook his head and continued his stroll.

When Anko got back to her apartment, she found a note on her door. It was written on pink paper with purple ink. The girl rolled her eyes and took it off the door.

DEAR ANKO,

COME TO MY HOUSE LATER. I WANT TO HANG OUT. MISS YOU LOTS!!!

WITH LOVE,

KURENAI

PS. BRING SAKE.

As Anko read the note, she smiled truly and rolled her eyes. If there was one person on this Earth that could cheer her up, it would be Kurenai.

"I'm coming!" Kurenai called from inside her house, responding to the knock on her door. "Hang on!"

There was a crash, a shout, and a click before the door finally swung open and Kurenai's face lit up when she saw Anko.

"Anko! You got my note?" she asked, tilting her head.

Anko nodded. "That I did." She held up her hand. "And I brought the sake."

"Oh thank god," Kurenai said, taking the bottle. "I'll need this before the night's over. Asuma is being a pain in the ass." She walked back inside, fingering the bottle of alcohol.

Anko slipped in and closed the door behind her. She looked around at the inside of her friend's home. There was a pile of broken glass on the floor; the living room was in complete disarray; clothing lay scattered on the floor. The kitchen was full of dirty dishes. It was messier than her own apartment.

Kurenai came back from the kitchen wiping her hands on a rag. "Sorry for the mess. Asuma was rearranging things." She set the rag down on a box.

"That's okay, Kure," Anko replied smiling.

"Well, do you want to go out then since you can't really breathe in here?"

"I can manage that," the girl replied, her smile turning into a grin. "A bar?"

"My thoughts exactly," Kurenai said. "Asuma, we're going out."

"Alright," called a voice from behind a box somewhere. "Don't get too drunk."

Both girls looked at each other and started laughing. They walked to the door and were out of the house in seconds.

The bar was semi-quiet. The bartender was wiping the counter tops with the bar rag and the waitress was bringing fresh drinks to some tables that held business men and punks. The business men sat lounging in their chairs while the punks lounged in two or more chairs at a time. The jukebox was playing a weird song that flowed through the room. The lights were dim and the TV in the corner was playing the news.

Anko and Kurenai were downing their drinks at the bar.

"So tell me," Kurenai said, her words starting to slur. "What's going on in the life of Anko?"

"Um…Nothing much, really," Anko replied. She was holding her liqueur better than her friend.

"Come on. Something has to be going on." Kurenai downed her drink and held up her glass to the bartender, who refilled it with a smile.

"Nothing is. I swear," the girl said, holding up her empty glass as well. "Just the usual ANBU crap…" She took a sip of her newly filled drink.

Kurenai tilted her head sluggishly. "I thought you liked being ANBU person."

"I do, but not recently." Anko groaned and smacked her hand against her forehead. "I need a vacation."

"Yeah! Me too!" Kurenai exclaimed, leaning her head down against the counter.

"Maybe I should take you home…"

"Maybe that's a good idea…"

Anko sighed and stood up. She laid a few dollars down on the counter for the bartender and turned to her friend. She draped Kurenai's arm over her shoulders and hoisted her to her feet. When that didn't work, Anko decided to carry her a different way.

They soon left the bar, Kurenai on Anko's back. The trip back to Kurenai's house was long and slow, but they finally made it after about ten minutes.

"Good Lord, how many did she have?" Asuma asked as he opened the front door. He quickly took his wife from the struggling girl.

"Only four," Anko replied, rubbing her lower back.

The man raised and eyebrow and repositioned the cigarette in his mouth. "And how many did you have?"

Anko looked at the floor of the porch and knitted her fingers together. "Um… Seven?"

"Good Lord, woman," Asuma exclaimed. "You're worse then us guys!"

"I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult." She twirled around and waved a hand over her shoulder. "Well, I must be off. Tomorrow's a free day for me. I'm sleeping in." With that, she left the porch and headed home.

Halfway to her house, she staggered and fell down on the ground, getting dust and dirt all over her ANBU pants. She cursed tipsily to herself and managed to get back to her feet.

She made it all the way back to her apartment before she collapsed in her doorway. Not having the energy to get up, she leaned against her door frame and stared at the closed door. Her eyelids started to drift shut and she felt herself falling asleep.

Someone opened her door from inside and picked her up gently, like they were carrying an infant. The person set her down on the couch and then walked to the kitchen.

Anko could hear the abnormally loud sound of water running from her faucet, and then the footsteps of the person coming back to her. A cold washrag was pressed against her forehead, and she was able to think somewhat more clearly.

The darkness became lighter around her; the sounds were still loud, but bearable; there was a being sitting in the chair in her living room…

She sat bolt upright and earned herself a splitting headache. She winced and sank back to the couch, covering the washrag with her hand.

"You really shouldn't do that," said an amused hiss from the chair.

"Shut up," she grumbled back. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by," Orochimaru replied, crossing his legs. "Then you show up drunk. Bravo, by the way."

"Like I said; shut up." She tried to focus on getting her headache back to normal.

"Why are you out drinking? It's very unhealthy, you know," he said, examining his fingernails.

"What's it any of your business?" Anko asked. "Besides, I'm sure you're one to talk…"

"That has nothing to do with you, thank you," the snake retorted, annoyance lacing his voice. "I have my own reasons to go out once in a while. You have no excuse."

"More of an excuse than you know…" she muttered, closing her eyes.

"Oh really? How so?" he quizzed, leaning forward slightly.

"None of your business," she snapped, opening one eye to glare at him. "Now, if you please, I have a huge headache, and you're not helping. So if you would be so kind as to leave, that would be great." She closed her eye again.

"I don't think I'm going to comply with your request," he said, making himself comfortable in the chair.

"You suck."

Orochimaru shrugged. "That's the way life is, dear. Get used to it." He uncrossed and re-crossed his legs and examined the girl. "So, are you just going to sleep there, or are you going to be more lively?"

"I'm drunk, you idiot," she said with a laugh. "All I can do besides talking that won't give me a headache is lay here."

The snake nodded and then tilted his head. "Is that so? So you wouldn't fight back if I, say, do something to you?"

At that comment, Anko sat up, despite the protests of her head. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just talking to myself," he said with an evil chuckle. "But would you?"

"Of course I would!" she exclaimed, offended beyond measure. "You think I'm a pushover?"

"I think you're drunk," he said.

"I'm not actually drunk. I'm just tipsy, thank you very much," she said, one fist resting awkwardly on her hip.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and he smirked. "Good. Now I won't feel so bad." He twisted out of the chair and gracefully sat on Anko's stomach, causing her to lie back down. His legs crossed again, hanging over the side of the couch. He examined his fingernails again. "One good thing about you being 'tipsy' is that you don't have the coherent strength to fight back while still being conscious enough to feel pain." He looked up from his fingernails and sneered at the girl. He reached out and grabbed her chin. "Do you still want pain?"

"Nothing you can do to me will make me feel any worse," she spat. She jerked her chin from his grasp and struggled for breath, for him sitting on her stomach wasn't helping her to breathe normally.

"Oh yeah? Do you really want to find out if that's true?" he asked, leaning his face towards her.

"That's a stupid question." She rolled her eyes and tried to push him away with her one hand, but it was captured by his own and forced down to the couch cushions.

"It's still worth asking," he breathed. "I still like to be a gentleman."

Before she could come up with a clever remark, her curse mark began to throb painfully. It even started out excruciating instead of gradually reaching that point. Her limbs began to lose their feeling and her stomach started to churn. She could feel herself sweating already, a drop or two trickling down her brow and across her cheeks.

Orochimaru ran his fingernails across her curse mark, his sharp nails digging into the skin, making it bleed. The more pain, the better. He repositioned himself so that he had a more accessible point to which he could inflict more pain. He released her arm and used that hand to tug on her hair, undoing it from its ponytail.

"Get off…me…" she choked out, her eyes tightly shut from the pain.

"Nope, I don't think I will," he sneered, his fingernails running across her throat and collarbones. Scratches formed on her skin, just enough that it wouldn't draw blood. She winced again.

The snake's eyes softened slightly; but Anko couldn't see it. He repositioned himself on her stomach—a knee on either side of her waist—and leaned his face towards her again. "You really are beautiful when you're in pain…" he muttered, brushing a finger down her cheek slowly.

Anko opened one eye to look at him in disbelief, her eyes still showing pain. Sweat continued to trickle down her face. "W-what?" she managed to ask, her voice hoarse and weak.

He shook his head as his fingers traveled down the side of her neck on the other side of her curse mark, causing a slight shudder from the girl.

The voice inside her head was whining. It was telling her that she wanted him, but she couldn't have him for fear that she would be arrested. She was in such a pickle.

_Come on, Anko! You have to get up! Tell him to leave or do SOMETHING! Do you want to go to jail? By the hands of your best friend, no less. Can you imagine what that would do to you guys? Are you willing to throw away the best friendship ever because you didn't fight back against a criminal? Wake up, Anko!!_

In her head, Anko nodded in understanding. The voice was right. She had to do something.

She mustered up enough of her deteriorating strength to lift her arms and push him back somewhat. His fingers left her throat and he leaned back on her. "Please…" she started to whisper. "Please go away…"

"Why should I?" Orochimaru quizzed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"None of your business," she said, looking away from him and across the dark room. "You don't need to know."

"Obviously I do or I'm not going anywhere," he said, sneering down at her.

Anko scowled. She really couldn't tell him. What would she say? _"__Oh, nothing really. I just want you really bad, but I can't have you even if you offered because Tsunade would arrest me, as she said in the conversation we had right after we set you up." _ Hehe, no.

"Because you just being here is…getting me in trouble…" she said, thinking of how to avoid telling him about the conversation.

"Getting you in trouble?" he asked with a laugh. "Why should I care about that? I wouldn't have come here if I hadn't wanted you to get into trouble. I know what I am. Everywhere I go I get people into trouble. You're going to need a better excuse than that."

"I don't fucking want to get arrested, Orochimaru! Happy? You being here is putting me at risk for Tsunade arresting me. And if I get arrested, I'm going to tell them what all you did to me, not that it will help," she blurted.

The snake raised an eyebrow at her. "First off, Tsunade wouldn't arrest you. Second, why the hell should I care if you tell them? I couldn't care less. It's not like they can catch me or anything."

Anko's eyes became sad as she remember her and Tsunade's conversation. "She told me she would have to…" she whispered, more to herself than to the snake. "She said she would have to arrest me…if I dealt with you any more…" Tears came to her eyes as she remembered the look of pain on her best friend's face as Anko was told that she might get arrested. A lump was forming in her throat.

The snake stared at her blankly for a long moment, absorbing her words. They meant little to him, but that was more than he cared for. He reached out with his hand and wiped away one of her tears that had decided to roll down her cheek. In one swift movement, he was off of her and standing beside the couch, looking at the floor.

"Very well…" he said, his voice carefully neutral with only a hint of arrogance in it. "I shall come back when you have calmed down. You're no fun to torment when you're already in pain." Without another word, he vanished.

It took an unbearably long moment to let everything sink in, and when it did, she fell apart. Anko curled up in a tight ball on her couch and cried, ignoring her headache and the lightheadedness her big sobs brought.

She didn't exactly know for what reason she was crying; whether it be for her friend maybe having to arrest her, maybe for the man she wanted being forbidden to her, maybe for the way that in the span of three days, her life had changed drastically—from almost ordinary to hellacious. She was doomed.


	6. Inchworm Inspiration

Chapter Six— Inchworm Inspiration

Tsunade was in her office, working on paperwork, as always, when the ANBU captain came into the room, carrying a file in his hands.

"Tsunade!" he hollered. "Explain this!" He slammed the file down on her desk with a _smack_.

The Hokage blinked a few times before looking up at the masked man. She stuck her pinky finger in her ear and shook her head. "Do you mind not screaming, Captain? I have a headache," she said calmly, the ringing in her ears receding.

"I'll scream if I need to!" he retorted, putting his hands on his hips. "Now explain that!" He pointed to the file.

Tsunade picked it up and opened it, scanned the contents quickly, and eyed the captain. "What's this?"

"That, Hokage, is Anko Mitarashi's work and agenda file. First, she has been very distracted in her work lately. Second, her records are dropping. Third, I hear that you have her working for the next three months straight without a single day off? That's so harsh! Hell, even I have days off." His face was red beneath the mask.

The Hokage set the file down on her desk and calmly laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on her desk. "Your point, Captain?"

"Why are you torturing her?" he demanded in a fatherly tone. "What wrong has she done that I do not know about, and at the same time is worth all these things?"

"That is none of your concern, Captain," she said, the same calm tone as before. "But if you must know, it is a private matter between me and her. She has been distracted because of it. She may not be able to sleep because of it, which would be the reason for the dropping records, and the more time she spends working, the less time she has to spend getting in trouble." _Or spend hanging out with that snake… _

The ANBU captain stared at the woman with something of scorn in his eyes. But he nodded somberly and bowed. "Yes, ma'am. Forgive the intrusion." He walked from the room muttering angrily to himself, leaving the poor Hokage to her mountains of paperwork.

Tsunade sighed and picked up another stack of papers. She didn't need this right now. Her mind began to wander as she blankly read over the letter of complaint from Sunagakure.

Anko woke the nest day around noon, her head throbbing. She slowly opened her eyes to her blissfully dark living room and stared at the ceiling. Her cheeks still tingled from where her tears had flowed. She reached up with her hand and ran a finger down the path her tears had taken.

Why had she been crying? Last night was a fog in her mind. She remembered the bar…coming home…and…and…

She sat up straight and covered her mouth with her hand. She had told him about Tsunade… She wanted to smack her forehead, but it was already pounding and didn't need another reason to hurt.

_How could I have been so stupid?! The one thing I told myself never to tell him, I blabbed! Idiot!! Moron, loser, stupid!! _

Anko covered her eyes with her hands and curled up in a ball. "Perfect…" she muttered, shaking her head. She sighed heavily and lowered her hands. "And now I have to work… Could this day get any better?"

She stood up, looked down, and realized that she wasn't wearing her ANBU attire anymore. She was sure that when she had gone to sleep, she had been in her ANBU uniform. Now she was in her pajamas. "How the hell…?"

She shook her head to clear it. She didn't need to be thinking about that now. She walked to her room and changed quickly into her ANBU clothes that were folded neatly on her bed. Then she realized that her mask was missing.

Anko looked around her room, in her closet, in her dresser, in the living room, everywhere it could have been, but she couldn't find it. She glanced at the clock and cursed to herself. "Screw it. I have to go."

As she walked out the door, she groaned to herself. This was going to be a long day.

The rain clouds blocked out the sun, thankfully, as Anko worked outside the city walls to clean up a tree that had fallen and was leaning against the wall. The branches had snagged a power line and part of the city was without power.

The girl leaned against the wall under the now branchless tree and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She exhaled heavily and looked down at the pile of branches at her feet. She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

An inchworm made its way up her arm and rested on her shoulder. She looked down at it and picked it up. It made its way up her finger and across her knuckles.

Anko tilted her head. "Hey there, little guy," she said, her voice exhausted. She smiled.

She continued her work throughout the rest of the day, the inchworm her only company. While she worked, she pondered a way to stay out of the way of being arrested and avoid the snake at the same time. She wracked her brain for any trace of a fail-proof plan that would make her free of everything, but she couldn't think of anything.

As the sun went down, she let the inchworm go. She set the little thing down on a root sticking out of the ground. The moment it started to crawl away, a sinister looking spider started to follow it. Right when the spider was about to strike, the inchworm stiffened like a board and pretended to be dead. The spider lost interest a little while later and left, and the inchworm did as well.

Anko raised an eyebrow and scratched her chin. "Hmm…" At that moment, she got an idea. A smirk roamed across her lips. "Perfect…"

She leapt away from her newly finished worksite and headed to Kurenai's house, to set her new found plan into motion.


	7. Helpless

Chapter Seven—Helpless

"Kurenai! Open up!" Anko yelled as she pounded on her friend's door.

"Coming, I'm coming!" her friend yelled back. The door swung open and revealed a red faced brunette. "What is it, Anko? Did something happen?"

"Uh…sure, we'll go with that. Is this a bad time?"

"Um, sort of…I just got out of the shower…" Kurenai replied, stepping out from behind her door, showing her toweled body.

Anko flushed. "I'm sorry, Kure. Do you want me to come back at a better time?" she asked, biting her lip.

"No, no, it's okay. Just don't mind me getting dressed. Asuma's not here," she replied cheerfully, opening the door wider to allow the girl entrance.

Anko smiled and walked in. "Alright then," she said, sitting on a crate nonchalantly sitting in the still messy living room.

Kurenai walked around and picked up random articles of clothing off the cluttered floor. "So what did you need?" she asked, dropping her towel and slipping on a pair of underwear and a bra.

"I need your help with something important," Anko said, throwing a pajama shirt at her friend.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, catching the shirt and slipping it on. "What is it?"

Anko hesitated. "Uh…you're my best friend, right?" she started. "And you'd do anything to make me happy, right?"

"Depending on how it affected me, of course," Kurenai responded in mock arrogance. "Where are you going with this?"

The girl took a deep breath and explained her plan to her friend, with her friend shouting, "What are you, nuts?"

"Please, Kure? It's the only way! I need Kakashi's help too. Please, please, please?" Anko begged, folding her hands together.

"Why is it you need this so badly?" the brunette that was now wearing boxer shorts asked.

"Because it's the only way to get Tsunade off my back and for Orochimaru to stop pestering me," the girl said.

"Orochimaru?" Kurenai gasped.

Anko covered her mouth. _Shit… _"Did I…not mention him…?" she asked in poorly acted stupidity.

"Hell no you didn't!" Kurenai cried. "Why is he pestering you? Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped!"

"I don't know, and I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would get in his way and get hurt. But now you see why I need you to do this for me! Please, Kure?"

After a long time of staring at her friend in disbelief and torn decision, Kurenai sighed. "Fine, I'll help, but only because I love you so much. Got it?"

Anko got off her perch and hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you, Kurenai! Now we have to go get Kakashi."

The next day was rainy and perfect. The dark clouds that covered Konohagakure shadowed everything and everyone, adding a gloomy mood. It was about three in the afternoon, and Tsunade was in her office filing paperwork…again. The rain plinked against the window to her office. She sighed heavily.

At that moment, Kurenai and Kakashi burst into her office. Kurenai was in tears, and Kakashi had a horrified look on his face. Both were panting.

"Tsunade! Hurry!" Kurenai wheezed. "You must hurry!"

Tsunade stood up from her chair and leaned her hands urgently on her desk. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Anko," Kakashi said in a low and pained tone.

"What about Anko?" the Hokage asked, a little worried about how their expressions and something about Anko worked together.

"We heard her scream from the Forest of Death not five minutes ago. Anko never screams… She had told us to help her in this sort of plan of hers, but something went horribly wrong I guess… She… she…" Kurenai burst into tears and leaned on Kakashi's shoulder, who patted her head comfortingly.

"We think she might be in trouble…" Kakashi finished. "Please, you must hurry."

Within ten minutes, the entire ANBU squad was scouring the Forest, searching for some sign of Anko. Kurenai, Kakashi, Tsunade, and the ANBU captain each held their own separate search parties, but all failed to bring back any sign of the poor girl.

About two hours into the search, one of the Kurenai brought something over to show the Hokage. "Tsunade…look…"

The girl held up the torn and bloody trench coat of the girl they had been looking for. The amount of blood that spattered the tan material showed a wound somewhere vital.

Tsunade took the coat and examined it. A look of anger and pain slurred her features. "Anko…" she muttered.

"Tsunade!" a voice cried from somewhere towards the middle of the Forest. It was urgent and pleading, and sounded so very familiar.

The blonde, without another word or anything, raced off in the direction of the voice.

A few minutes later, she stopped dead in front of a huge ravine that ran for almost a mile according to the maps of the Forest. It went straight down for almost a thousand feet until it turned into a spiked and jagged graveyard of multiple rockslides and dropped weapons—shuriken of all sized, senbon, kunai, katana.

On the direct opposite side, a person stood holding their side, dangerously close to the edge, their back to the Hokage.

"Anko!" Tsunade cried, reaching out her arm to the girl as if she could grab her and hug her.

"Tsunade!" she shouted back, not turning to look at her.

At that moment, a giant snake slithered out of the Forest in front of Anko. It was a massive brown python, fangs bared, tongue flicking out in Anko's direction. It hissed low in its throat.

"Anko, get away from there!" Tsunade cried in desperation. "Hurry!"

"I can't!" the girl shouted back. "I'm out of chakra!" She took a step back, and her heel was off the edge of the cliff.

The snake slithered closer to the girl.

"Anko! No!" But it was too late. Tsunade watched helplessly as the girl jumped off the cliff, trying to avoid being devoured by the snake. She fell into the darkness of the abyss and disappeared. The bottom was too far away to even be able to hear the sickening crack and crunch of her friend hitting the impaling points below.

Tsunade sank to her knees and stared into the darkness, hoping to see Anko come climbing back up the wall, or appear next to her and say that she was alright, but as the minutes ticked by and the big snake slithered away, nothing happened. The pit was silent for anything that signified that the girl was still alive.

It was too dangerous to send any of her ANBU down there. She would not risk losing their lives as well.

Pain gripped her heart and she started to cry as her ANBU and friends surrounded her, and shared in their grief. Anko was dead. She was gone. Forever.


	8. Never Say Goodbye

Chapter Eight—Never Say Goodbye

The funeral was held at the ravine's crest. The Nin that had known her gathered there in a private sort of gathering, all fashioning black clothing and grief-ridden faces. They all lined up and, one by one, tossed a single purple flower into the dark pit and said their goodbyes. Tears streamed down a few cheeks, matching the mood of the still rainy sky.

As Tsunade, the last of the line, approached the edge of the abyss, she held out Anko's blood soaked coat, with her purple flower tucked into the collar, and tossed it into the darkness. She muttered a few goodbyes and apologies, fought back tears with all her might, and turned away from the scene of the death.

Soon after that, everyone departed. Even Kurenai, Kakashi, and Tsunade. No need to stay and be gloomy. There was work to be done, and she was only one Nin. Tsunade kept telling herself this, hoping that it would ease her grief, but it did not. It only added to it.

The last person to depart, however, was the one that vanished from a nearby tree, having seen what he needed to see.

Orochimaru lay in his bed, his eyes covered by his arm. He was trying desperately to control his breathing. He swallowed a few times and bit his lip to cut through the fog that was unwelcome in his mind. Why was he taking this so hard? Why did he care enough about her to feel…grief? He did not like this feeling.

A knock sounded on the door. "My lord? Are you alright? You've been in there for almost two days now…" Kimimaro asked from the other side of the door.

"I'm aware, Kimimaro," the snake replied, his voice hoarse. "Leave me be, please."

There was a silence, and then, "Yes, my lord." Footsteps indicated the boy's departure.

Orochimaru sighed heavily into the shadows in his room. "Why…?" he whispered to himself, clenching his jaw. "Why…do I feel this way…?" He shouldn't care that she was gone. He should feel nothing at all. Hell, he'd tried to kill her before. Why should he care that she was dead now?

He outwardly flinched at that word. How could she be so careless? He had taught her better than that. She should have been able to handle that snake…even with her chakra gone. She was so stupid sometimes. If she was here right now, he would scold her…

But she wasn't here. Nor would she ever be.

He lowered his arm as a solitary tear slid slowly down his cheek of its own accord. He swallowed a lump in his throat. His usually cold and black heart ached. It was the first feeling it had had in it in so long.

Now that he thought about it, she was the only thing that could ever make his heart truly feel anything. Glee, humour, sadness, sympathy, anger… love? Had he loved her? No, impossible. He could never…

Orochimaru felt the faint flicker of presence in his room, but he ignored it.

How could he love her? She was half his age, and she obviously hated him. Well…at least, she should. He had been nothing but mean to her all her life, except small little moments of rare kindness. But that couldn't have been enough to make her love him, could it have been?

He felt the faint presence approaching him slowly, but he ignored it.

Surely not. If she had still been alive, she would have eventually come and seek to kill him, despite how she had asked him to kiss her in the forest. It had probably just been a moment of uncontrollable lust reduced to a simple kiss. That was it. There was no way she would ever love a man like him, even if she were still alive…

A warm finger ran across his cheek and wiped away the single tear. "You shouldn't cry, snaky… It doesn't suit you…"

Orochimaru opened his eyes and sat up straight in his bed, staring at the person in disbelief. "It can't be…" he breathed. "Anko…?"

"That's my name…" she answered with a weak goofy smile on her lips; a smile that he was afraid he would never see again. She was soaking wet, her loose hair dripping on her muddy mesh and ruined tan skirt. She was shivering. Her face was streaked with mud and a cut spread across her cheek.

"I…I thought you were… But you fell into a… How?" he whispered, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"It was a trick," she answered in a small voice. "I staged it."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Without saying another word, he grabbed the blanket off his bed and draped it around the girl's shivering shoulders.

Anko smiled weakly and hugged it tightly around her. "Thank you."

"Why…" he started to ask, but was cut off by her finger against his lips.

"Not now…please…" she whispered. "I need to rest for a little while, alright…?" She sat down on his bed with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. She looked exhausted.

They sat in silence for an unbelievably long time. Orochimaru listened as the girl's breathing slowly calmed and she became warm again. Subconsciously, she leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed contentedly. He ignored the fact that he was getting wet and tried to swallow the fact that she was alive. Though, part of him was conscious of her warmth against his cold skin.

"Why did you stage your own death…?" he asked after the silence had become too unbearable.

"Because…I needed to get away from everything, and it was an easy way out…" she admitted after a second of hesitation. "Tsunade was hounding me with work that I couldn't handle anymore, and I didn't want to be a traitor by leaving the village… And I also wanted to get away from you."

"But…how did you…?" he dared to ask.

"I got the idea from an inchworm," she said with a tiny smile. "I asked Kurenai and Kakashi to help me fool Tsunade, and they agreed. I promised that I would come back to see them once in a while. Then I had to think of some way to simulate blood on my coat for more effect, and what better to do that than the real thing?"

"You injured yourself?" the snake asked in a hushed voice, still unable to grasp this.

Anko nodded.

"Where?"

"On my side…"

He reached down with one of his hands and lifted the edge of her mesh. A large blood stained bandage wrapped around her waist. He raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway, the Anko that Tsunade had seen fall into the ravine was a clone of myself. I had it commit suicide. And the snake was a good friend of mine that agreed to help me in my plan. I figured that I could still hang out in the Forest of Death and maybe be The Ghost of Anko or something and scare some little brats…"

Orochimaru nodded his head slowly. It was all making sense to him. Well, almost all. "There's something I still don't get…" he said, looking at the floor. "You said you did it partly to get away from me…and yet here you are. Why?"

She also looked at the floor. "Well, I was hiding in a cave about five miles outside of Amegakure, right beside where you had…kissed me…and I was remembering the whole thing… I started to think to myself, 'Why do I feel like this?' My heart ached at the actual reality of leaving you. When I realized that I was actually going to be free… I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing you again…no matter what you did to me… Then I wracked my brain for some logical explanation, and I could only come up with one that sounded insane. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made…" she brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them "…I still love you."

The snake was speechless. The silence that he left behind stretched between them like a great ocean. He was alone with his thoughts. She loved him? She actually loved him? How could he believe this? A few minutes ago, she had been dead, or so he thought. And now she was alive _and _she loved him? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. This all had to be a dream. It had to be. He was dreaming that she was alive because he was grieving. That's it. There was no way she would love him in truth…

Anko reached over and caressed his cheek with her warm and wet fingers, bringing him back to reality. She had a serene look in her eyes as she stroked his cheek, and she could feel her heartbeat picking up.

In a moment, she had her lips pressed to his. The kiss was hers this time; orchestrated and unspoken by her alone. Her hands cupped the side of his face and she leaned against him, her cold mesh pressed into his skin.

Slowly, he began to kiss her back. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and they were warm for once in his life, apparently taking in her warmth and making his own. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and ran it along the soft inside of her lips. He pulled her into a loving embrace, and held her tightly.

It was then that he realized that this was not a dream. She was really here, and she really loved him. She was warm and cold against his skin. Her lips tasted so good. Her hair was in disarray. Her bruised skin was soft to the touch. There was breath in her lungs and a heartbeat in her chest. She was alive, and she loved him.

Gently, he pushed her back against his pillow until she was on her back and he was leaning over her. He unfolded her legs, taking care to run his fingers up and down her damp and cold skin. His lust was taking over himself again…but this time he had no intention of taking control of it.

Anko dug her fingernails deeply into the cloth and flesh on his back. The same urge was taking over her as well, and she too had no intention of holding back any longer.

Before long, the snake had her completely naked, and she had him completely naked. Their clothes lay in a pile on the floor next to the bed.

Orochimaru's hands traced tingling patterns all over the girl's skin. He ran his fingers down her cheek and neck, across her breasts, over her stomach, and up her inner thighs. He had released her lips and was now chewing gently on the base of her neck.

Anko was blushing furiously, both from embarrassment and heat. She braced the back of his head with her one hand and gently pushed it so that his teeth nicked her skin. Her other hand scratched down his back, almost drawing blood, and causing a sadistic-born moan to escape the snake's lips.

He sank his fangs deep into her flesh after his moan, and a vicious form of pleasure coursed through Anko's entire body, making her shiver in desire. She arched her back to bring herself to press against his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him as if she was going to fall.

Orochimaru let her blood fill his mouth, completely intoxicated by her taste. He ran a hand down her thigh, dragging his sharp nails through her skin. He was carefully avoiding the wound on her side. It was a deep gash, and he didn't want her dying in reality.

After a few minutes of touching and exploring and caressing, he spread her legs gently and kissed her lips again. With a quick thrust, and a scream of ecstasy, the night began.

Outside, the rain was pouring heavily, illuminating the still full moon. A cold breeze whipped through the trees, whispering a foreign language to nature and soothing all that was ill in the darkness. The stars twinkled brightly in the black sky, shining with an unearthly glee that reached across the night.

As the man passionately embraced the girl, he leaned his mouth near her ear and whispered one thing; one phrase that sold his heart and that finally believed that she was alive and well, and moaning his name; a phrase that had defied him for years; a phrase that would keep her with him forever.

"Aishite imasu, watashi-no osanago1…"

1 'Aishite imasu, watashi-no osanago' translated means 'I love you, my little one' in Japanese.


End file.
